Program Overview

---

Pediatrics Clerkship

The Pediatrics Clerkship is a six-week clerkship during which students develop clinical skills to manage healthy and ill infants, children, and adolescents in collaboration with their families. Clinical experiences occur in the general pediatric wards, pediatric emergency department, newborn nursery, and ambulatory settings.

Pediatrics Clerkship Objectives

At the end of this rotation, the student will be able to:

• Explain the various causes and pathophysiology of common acute, emergency, and chronic pediatric diseases and conditions.
• Describe the scientific principles underlying diagnostic methods, including laboratory and radiologic testing, and treatment approaches.
• Demonstrate knowledge of age-appropriate behavior and common pediatric behavioral/psychiatric issues.
• Explain how preventive measures, health behaviors, and social determinants affect disease, injury, and health in individual pediatric patients and across populations.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the scientific method in establishing causation of pediatric health and disease.

Medical Knowledge (MK)

Students must demonstrate knowledge about established and evolving basic, clinical, and cognate sciences and the application of this knowledge to the practice of medicine.

• Explain the causes and pathophysiology of common pediatric diseases and conditions.
• Describe the scientific principles underlying diagnostic methods and treatment approaches.
• Demonstrate knowledge of age-appropriate behavior and common pediatric behavioral/psychiatric issues.
• Explain how preventive measures affect disease, injury, and health in individual pediatric patients and across populations.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the scientific method in establishing causation of pediatric health and disease.

Patient Care (PC)

Students must be prepared to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, safe, and effective.

• Obtain essential, accurate, and age-appropriate historical information about pediatric patients.
• Obtain essential, accurate, and age-appropriate information from the pediatric physical exam.
• Formulate an accurate and comprehensive differential diagnosis.
• Develop an appropriate evaluation and management plan for common chronic, acute, and emergency pediatric conditions.
• Provide care and education that is responsive to the patient and the patient's family.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills (CS)

Students must demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that facilitate effective interactions with patients, their families, and other health professionals.

• Communicate effectively with the patient, the patient's family, colleagues, and other health care professionals.
• Foster therapeutic and ethically sound relationships with pediatric patients and patient's families.

Professionalism (PR)

Students must demonstrate a commitment to professional and personal excellence in all settings, including adherence to ethical principles and sensitivity to a various patient population.

• Demonstrate honesty, integrity, respect, and compassion in all interactions with patients, peers, faculty, staff, and other health care professionals.
• Demonstrate ethical, patient- and family-centered decision-making, and respect for the confidentiality of patient information.
• Demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to the personhood of the patient.

Personal and Professional Development (PD)

Students must demonstrate the qualities required to sustain lifelong personal and professional growth.

• Acknowledge personal limitations and mistakes openly and honestly, and critically evaluate mistakes to promote professional development.
• Seek and respond to feedback about professional performance.
• Demonstrate strategies for analyzing, identifying, and improving personal deficiencies in medical knowledge, clinical and collaborative skills, and professionalism.

Practice-based and Lifelong Learning (PL)

Students must investigate and assess their academic and clinical performance, develop skills for lifelong learning and personal improvement in order to improve patient care.

• Retrieve, critically appraise, and integrate current, evidence-based biomedical information into patient care and clinical decision-making.
• Apply principles of medical informatics, patient safety, and quality improvement to enhance patient care.
• Apply the foundational principles of basic, clinical, and translational research to patient care.

System-based Learning (SL)

Students must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and systems of health care, including barriers and drivers of health and health care access.

• Describe the pediatric medical home, including the evidence and rationale for continuity of care, comprehensive care, and coordinated care for pediatric patients.
• Advocate for quality patient care and describe strategies for assisting patients in dealing with system complexities.
• Define the roles of various health professionals in the care of pediatric patients and describe how successful collaboration can improve patient/family care and system performance.

Interprofessional Collaboration (IP)

Students must demonstrate the ability to engage in an interprofessional team in a manner that optimizes safe, effective patient- and population-centered care.

• Work as members of interprofessional health care teams to provide effective, safe, quality, and patient-and family-focused care.
• Demonstrate effective collaboration skills as a member of a team, including learning teams and health care teams.

Pediatrics Clerkship PxDx Log

• Participate in the care of patients with various diagnoses, including:
  • Health Supervision: newborn, infant, toddler/preschool, school-aged, adolescent
  • Behavioral Issues
  • CNS Issue
  • Chronic medical issue
  • Dermatological issue
  • Developmental issue
  • Emergent issue
  • Fever
  • GI Issue
  • Growth Issue
  • Jaundice/increased bilirubin
  • Lower Respiratory Tract Infection
  • Upper Respiratory Tract Infection
  • Nutrition
• Perform various procedures, including:
  • Medication dosage calculation
  • Fluid Needs calculation
  • Interpretation of a pediatric X-Ray
  • Urinalysis
  • Rectal temperature
  • Plot growth parameters
  • Head circumference measurement
  • BMI calculation
  • Drawing of a 3-generation pedigree
  • Handoff
  • Child safety discussion
  • Counseling for an adolescent
  • Vision screening
  • Developmental assessment
  • Immunization administration
  • Ballard Assessment
  • Anticipatory guidance
  • Interprofessional Experience
• Perform a general exam on a pediatric patient.